testblog

Dear Friends and opponents of torture,

 

President Bush's nomination of White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales to be the next Attorney General would elevate the architect of the Administration's torture policy to the position of the chief law enforcement officer in the land.  His confirmation hearing begins on January 5.  Please help us oppose this travesty of justice, tell your representatives: "tough questions are not enough." Send a message to the Bush Administration and the world that the American people do not condone torture.

 

Mr. Gonzales is the author of the infamous ?torture memo? that called the Geneva Conventions "obsolete" and "quaint," and he has argued for virtually limitless presidential power to evade or circumvent laws and treaties on the theory that the Commander-in-Chief is not accountable to the Judiciary as it relates to the "war against terrorism."  The memos Gonzales authored and commissioned paved the way to the abuse and torture of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, many of whom are represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights.  At CCR, we have seen the terrible effect of the evasion of the rule of law on human beings first hand. There is no question but that there is a causal link between the memoranda and other directives devised by Mr. Gonzales and the horrible infractions committed by officers in the field.

As White House counsel, Gonzales consistently treated the law as an inconvenient obstacle and ignored the expertise of those who disagreed with him. He argued that U.S. citizens could be held incommunicado and stripped of the right to counsel and the right to challenge their detention in a court of law for as long as the President deemed necessary. He hosted meetings where they discussed the use of specific torture techniques, including mock burial and ?water boarding,? where the victim is made to feel that he is drowning. Gonzales and his circle approved the use of dogs, hooding, and extreme sensory deprivation, all forbidden by the Geneva Conventions and the International Covenant Against Torture. He redefined torture to limit it to only those actions that lead to organ failure, death or permanent psychological damage. Gonzales justified this relaxed definition of torture on the grounds that in a time of war, interrogators   need to extract information from prisoners quickly to save American lives.  However, it has long been established by experts in the field that torture leads to false confessions and bad intelligence.  The policies advocated by Mr. Gonzales will expose our own troops to danger the world over for decades to come.

 

In their scathing editorial on the nomination, The Washington Post linked Mr. Gonzales directly to the tortures at Abu Ghraib and called his legal positions "damaging and erroneous." Newsweek wrote that "Gonzales ultimately signed off on all of the administration's most controversial legal moves."

 

Many members of Congress have said that they will not oppose Mr. Gonzales's nomination, that he will only be made to answer tough questions before sailing through the confirmation process. We at the Center for Constitutional Rights object to giving an architect of torture a promotion. We reiterate, tough questions are not enough. Please ask your Congressional representatives and the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to stand up and oppose the nomination of Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General.  We hope you will join us in declaring that this man and his policies do not represent who we are as Americans!

 

Please circulate this widely and quickly, the hearings begin the first week of the New Year!  To send a letter, click here.

 

 If the hyperlink does not work, cut and paste: http://www.ccr-ny.org/actionalert in your browser

 

Sincerely yours,

 

Ron Daniels

Executive Director

Center for Constitutional Rights

Posted by Konrad at 10:13 AM | Permalink

By WILLIAM KATES, Associated Press Writer

ITHACA, N.Y. - Nearly half of all Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict the civil liberties of Muslim Americans, according to a nationwide poll.

The survey conducted by Cornell University also found that Republicans and people who described themselves as highly religious were more apt to support curtailing Muslims' civil liberties than Democrats or people who are less religious.

Researchers also found that respondents who paid more attention to television news were more likely to fear terrorist attacks and support limiting the rights of Muslim Americans.

"It's sad news. It's disturbing news. But it's not unpredictable," said Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society. "The nation is at war, even if it's not a traditional war. We just have to remain vigilant and continue to interface."

The survey found 44 percent favored at least some restrictions on the civil liberties of Muslim Americans. Forty-eight percent said liberties should not be restricted in any way.

The survey showed that 27 percent of respondents supported requiring all Muslim Americans to register where they lived with the federal government. Twenty-two percent favored racial profiling to identify potential terrorist threats. And 29 percent thought undercover agents should infiltrate Muslim civic and volunteer organizations to keep tabs on their activities and fund-raising.

Cornell student researchers questioned 715 people in the nationwide telephone poll conducted this fall. The margin of error was 3.6 percentage points.

James Shanahan, an associate professor of communications who helped organize the survey, said the results indicate "the need for continued dialogue about issues of civil liberties" in a time of war.

While researchers said they were not surprised by the overall level of support for curtailing civil liberties, they were startled by the correlation with religion and exposure to television news.

"We need to explore why these two very important channels of discourse may nurture fear rather than understanding," Shanahan said.

According to the survey, 37 percent believe a terrorist attack in the United States is still likely within the next 12 months. In a similar poll conducted by Cornell in November 2002, that number stood at 90 percent.

Posted by Konrad at 11:43 AM | Permalink

From: Jane G. [mailto:nicajg@panix.com]
Sent: Fri 12/10/2004 9:49 AM
To: Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants
Subject: [CHRI] WED 12/15: Tell Pataki: Stop Suspending Immigrant Licenses

[texto en espan~ol sigue al ingles]

STOP THE SUSPENSIONS!

Join us to tell Governor Pataki to STOP SUSPENDING IMMIGRANTS' LICENSES!

What: PROTEST GOVERNOR PATAKI FOR SUSPENDING IMMIGRANTS' LICENSES!
When: Wednesday, December 15th, 2004
Time: 3:00 pm
Where: Governor Pataki's Manhattan Office
633 Third Avenue between 40th & 41st streets in New York City.
Subway Directions: 4/5/6/7/S to Grand Central/42nd Stop

The State of New York is threatening to suspend the drivers' licenses of almost 300,000 immigrants who can not verify their Social Security numbers. Losing their licenses will have devastating consequences for hard-working immigrant New Yorkers. Many immigrants need to drive to support their families--if their licenses are suspended they will lose the ability to work, to take their children to school and to drive to hospitals. Join us to tell Governor Pataki to STOP THE SUSPENSIONS!

For more information, contact:
Bhairavi Desai, New York Taxi Workers Alliance (212) 627-5248, nytwa1@aol.com
Gouri Sadhwani, New York Civic Participation Project (212) 388-3208,
gsadhwani@nycpp.org
Amy Sugimori, National Employment Law Project (212) 285-3025x102,
asugimori@nelp.org
Jackie Vimo, New York Immigration Coalition (212) 627-2227 x239,
jvimo@thenyic.org

NY Coalition for Immigrants' Rights to Drivers' Licenses

Why are immigrants losing their drivers' licenses?

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is threatening to take licenses away from almost 300,000 immigrants across the state. Since January 2004, the DMV has been sending letters to thousands of drivers informing them that there is a problem with the Social Security Number in their files. Drivers who cannot provide a valid Social Security number will eventually have their drivers' licenses suspended and lose the ability to drive legally in New York State.

What will happen to people who lose their licenses? Losing their licenses will have devastating consequences for hard-working immigrant New Yorkers. Many immigrants need to drive to support their families--if their licenses are
suspended they will lose the ability to work, to take their children to school
and to drive to hospitals.

The DMV is unfairly targeting immigrants by taking away their licenses. Immigrants are NOT terrorists. Discriminating against immigrants by taking away their licenses will only drive immigrants further underground. Suspending immigrants' licenses will also increase the number of uninsured and unlicensed drivers on the road and raise auto insurance premiums for all drivers.

How can this be stopped? The solution is simple: The DMV must STOP SUSPENDING IMMIGRANTS' LICENSES! The law does NOT say that immigration status is a requirement for drivers' licenses. The DMV's job is to keep our roads safe, not to enforce immigration laws. We need to send the message to Governor Pataki and to DMV Commissioner Martinez that DMV should keep its eyes on the road and stop acting as immigration officials.

What can I do? You can contact Governor Pataki at (518) 474-8390 and tell him, "STOP THE SUSPENSIONS OF IMMIGRANT LICENSES!" You can also join the New York Coalition for Immigrants' Rights to Drivers' Licenses, a coalition of community, immigrant, religious and labor groups and New Yorkers concerned about immigrants' rights. We organize regular meetings, rallies, events, press conferences and other activities. We need your help. Join us!

TO JOIN US, OR FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Amy Sugimori, National Employment Law Project (212) 285-3025x102
Gouri Sadhwani, New York Civic Participation Project (212) 388-3208
Jackie Vimo, New York Immigration Coalition (212) 627-2227x239

The NY Coalition for Immigrants' Rights to Drivers' Licenses

***

¡ALTO a las Suspensiones!

Dile al Gobernador Pataki que:
¡Pare las suspensiones de las licencias de inmigrantes!

QUE: Protesta al Gobernador Pataki por las suspensiones de las licencias de los inmigrantes
CUANDO: Miercoles 15 de Diciembre, 2004, a las 3PM
DONDE:  La oficina de Manhattan del Gobernador Pataki
        633 de la Tercera Avenida (entre las calles 40 y 41 de Manhattan)
Como llegar en Subway:  Trenes 4/5/6/7/S hasta la estación  Grand Central /
calle 42

El Estado de Nueva York esta por suspender las licencias de casi 300,000
inmigrantes quienes no pueden verificar sus números de Seguro Social.
Estas suspensiones van a tener consecuencias desastrosas para los Neoyorquinos inmigrantes.  Muchos inmigrantes necesitan manejar para darle de comer a su familia-si pierden sus licencias podrán perder sus trabajos, la habilidad de llevar sus hijos a la escuela y de manejar al hospital. Únase a nosotros en una protesta para mandarle el mensaje al Gobernador Pataki que ¡PARE LAS SUSPENSIONES! ....

PARA MÁS INFORMACIÓN CONTACTESE CON:
Jackie Vimo, New York Immigration Coalition (212) 627-2227x239
Bhairavi Desai, New York Taxi Workers Alliance (212) 627-5248
Gouri Sadhwani, New York Civic Participation Project (212) 388-3208
Amy Sugimori, National Employment Law Project (212) 285-3025x102

Coalición de Nueva York por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes a Licencias de
Manejar

¿Porqué estan los inmigrantes perdiendo sus licencias de manejar?

El Departamento de Motores y Vehiculos (DMV) del Estado de Nueva York esta amenazando con quitar las licencias de casi 300,000 inmigrantes a lo largo del estado. Desde Enero 2004, el DMV ha estado enviando cartas a miles de conductores informandoles que hay un problema con su Número de Seguro Social y sus archivos.  Los conductores que no pueden proveer un Número de Seguro
Social valido tendrán eventualmente sus licencias de manejar suspendidas y
perderán la abilidad de manejar legalmente en el Estado de Nueva York.

¿Qué le pasará a las personas que pierdan sus licencias? Perder sus licencias tendrá consecuencias devastadoras para los trabajadores inmigrantes Neoyorquinos.  Muchos inmigrantes necesitan manejar para mantener a sus familias - si sus licencias son suspendidas ellos perderán la abilidad para trabajar, llevar sus niños a la escuela y manejar al hospital.
El DMV esta apuntando injustamente a los inmigrantes quitandoles sus licencias.   Los Inmigrantes NO son terroristas. Discriminar en contra de los inmigrantes quitandoles sus licencias solo conducirá a los inmigrantes más abajo de donde estan. Suspender las licencias de los inmigrantes incrementará también el número de conductores sin seguro y sin licencias en el camino y aumentará el seguro de auto de todos los conductores.

¿Cómo se puede parar esto? La solución es simple: El DMV debe PARAR LA SUSPENSION DE LAS LICENCIAS DE LOS INMIGRANTES! La ley no dice que el estado migratorio es un requisito para las licencias de manejar. El trabajo del DMV es mantener los caminos seguros, y no ejecutar las leyes de inmigración. Nosotros necesitamos enviar el mensaje al Gobernador Pataki y al Comisionado del DMV Martinez que DMV debe mantener sus ojos en el camino y deje de actuar como oficiales de inmigración.

¿Qué puedo hacer? Usted puede contactar al Gobernador Pataki al (518)
474-8390 a su oficina en Albany y decirle que "PARE LA SUSPENSION DE LAS LICENCIAS DE LOS INMIGRANTES!!" Usted también puede unirse a la Coalición de Nueva York por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes a Licencias de Manejar, una coalición de grupos comunitarios, inmigrantes, religiosos y laborales y de Neoyorquinos preocupados por los derechos de los inmigrantes. Nosotros organizamos reuniones regulares, manifestaciones, eventos, conferencias de prensa y otras actividades.  Necesitamos su ayuda.  Unasenos!

PARA UNIRSENOS, O MAS INFORMACION CONTACTE A:

Jackie Vimo, New York Immigration Coalition (212) 627-2227x239
Amy Sugimori, National Employment Law Project (212) 285-3025x102
Gouri Sadhwani, New York Civic Participation Project (212) 388-3208

Coalición de Nueva York por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes a Licencias de
Manejar

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
END FORWARDED MESSAGE(S) / FIN DE MENSAJE(S) REENVIADO(S)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This message distributed by / Este mensaje distribuido por: Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants (CHRI) Coalicion para los Derechos Humanos de los Inmigrantes
339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 tel 212-254-2591 / 888-575-8242
fax 212-674-9139 email <chri@itapnet.org> http://www.itapnet.org/chri

-->> To get on the CHRI email list (average 4-5 messages a week), sign up
through the website at http://www.itapnet.org/chri -or- to be added to or
removed from the list write to chri@itapnet.org.

-->> Para recibir nuestros mensajes por email (promedio de 4 a 5 mensajes
por semana), inscribase en nuestro sitio, http://www.itapnet.org/chri, o, para
unirse a o quitarse de la lista, escribanos al chri@itapnet.org.

Posted by Konrad at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

from Immigration News Briefs (INB)

On Dec. 7, the US House of Representatives voted 336-75 to approve the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act; on Dec. 8 the Senate approved it 89-2. The bill came in response to the 9/11 Commission's recommendations for correcting security problems relating to the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The bill is expected to be signed soon by President George W. Bush. [Washington Post 12/8/04; Washington Times 12/8/04; Govexec.com Daily Briefing 12/9/04; National Immigration Forum Update 12/8/04; Houston Chronicle 12/9/04]

In addition to measures concerning intelligence information- sharing and reorganization, the 245-page bill includes provisions for increasing the number of full-time border patrol agents by 10,000 over five years and the number of full-time Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigators by 4,000 over five years. It also orders an increase in the number of beds available for immigration detainees by 40,000 in the same time period, and establishes minimum federal standards for birth certificates and driver licenses. [Govexec.com Daily Briefing 12/9/04]

Other measures in the bill will loosen standards for Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) surveillance warrants, allow the Justice Department to more easily detain suspects without bail and expand the criteria that constitute "material support" to terrorist groups. The bill does include one measure sought by civil liberties advocates: a Privacy and Civil Liberties Board, designed to safeguard individuals' rights. [WP 12/8/04, 12/10/04; NIF Update 12/8/04]

After prior versions of the bill were passed by the Senate on Oct. 6 and the House on Oct. 8 [see INB 10/16/04], a conference committee spent two months fighting mostly over anti-immigrant provisions included in the House version. Most of the representatives who opposed the final bill did so because they objected to the removal of the anti-immigrant provisions; they were outvoted after President George W. Bush promised, in a Dec. 7 letter, that he would consider border security provisions in 2005. "I look forward to working with the Congress early in the next session to address these issues, including improving our asylum laws and standards for issuing driver's licenses," Bush wrote. In a closed Republican meeting on Dec. 7, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) apparently also promised to include the immigration provisions in a "must-pass" legislative package early next year--most likely attached to a bill seeking $70 billion for military and "reconstruction" spending in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), who led the fight to keep the anti-immigrant measures in the bill, has vowed to introduce a new bill on Jan. 4--the first day of the new Congress--which will include a national ban on issuing state driver licenses to undocumented immigrants, a higher standard of proof for asylum- seekers and closure of a three-mile gap in a fence along the California-Mexico border. Sensenbrenner said his proposal will not include a Bush-supported "guest worker" plan for immigrants. [HC 12/9/04; NIF Update 12/8/04; WT 12/8/04; WP 12/8/04]

Posted by Konrad at 10:33 AM | Permalink

From: Rosita Choy

Extremely brief update regarding the intelligence reform legislation (also known as the legislation to implement the 9-11 commission report):

Most of the anti-immigrant provisions of Title III of HR 10 were NOT included. However the following provisions ARE in the compromise bill:

1. increase in the number of Border Patrol agents by 2,000 agents a year for each of the next five years

2. increase in the number of Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents by 800 a year for each of the next five years

3. increase in the number of beds available for immigration detainees by 40,000

4. The Department of Homeland Security will be required to establish "minimum standards" for birth certificates and driver's licenses -- some have called this the first step toward a national ID card.

Other immigration provisions reported by the Washington Post as being included in the bill:

1. "increase criminal penalties for smuggling illegal immigrants and allow deportation of any non-American who received military training from a terrorist organization" (all words from the Post)

2. "require visa applicants to have in-person interviews"

________________________________

Excerpts from "House Approves Intelligence Bill":
Washington Post, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004
By Charles Babington

The House yesterday approved landmark legislation to restructure the nation's intelligence community, creating a director of national intelligence and a counterterrorism center to better coordinate government assets and avert the type of intelligence lapses that occurred prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The House's 336 to 75 vote puts the long-debated measure on the brink of enactment...

[The Senate then passed the bill into law that day, 89-2, and adjourned the 108th Congress – Konrad]

Lawmakers concerned mainly about Pentagon prerogatives were assured that the defense secretary, not the director of national intelligence, would continue to control spy satellites and aircraft. But those mainly seeking crackdowns on illegal immigration fared less well, winning only House leaders' assurance that immigration issues will be taken up early next year.

In a 90-minute closed meeting of House Republicans yesterday morning, the chief advocate of putting more immigration restrictions in the bill – Judiciary Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (Wis.) – implored colleagues to hold out for a better deal. But with Hastert, DeLay and others urging lawmakers to embrace the White House-supported bill, Sensenbrenner could prevent only 67 Republicans from voting aye. Democrats overwhelmingly supported the measure, with only eight voting no.

Several lawmakers said the Senate would have had serious reservations about the proposed immigration provisions, which might have scuttled the bill. Among Maryland's eight House members, all voted for the bill except Roscoe Bartlett (R). Among Virginia legislators, all voted aye except three Republicans who voted no: Jo Ann S. Davis, Randy Forbes and Virgil Goode.

The House vote and today's expected Senate action will save Bush from the political embarrassment of a Republican-controlled Congress rejecting a major bill he supports...After the Nov. 20 revolt by House Republicans, which surprised Hastert and the White House, the administration turned up the heat...."The president and the vice president's interventions with House members were absolutely key in moving this bill forward," said Susan Collins (R-Maine), the Senate's chief sponsor.

Although much of the recent debate focused on protecting Pentagon turf, several House Republicans said the fiercest resistance centered on immigration questions. The original House version -- drafted with no Democratic input -- included numerous provisions to keep undocumented foreigners from entering the country and to make it easier to deport visitors who overstay their visas or break laws.

Sensenbrenner repeatedly noted that the 19 hijackers of Sept. 11 had obtained multiple driver's licenses, which he said helped them open bank accounts and board planes. He urged the House to retain language that would require states to verify the legal status of non-citizens applying for driver's licenses.

Opponents, including businesses that rely on low-wage undocumented workers, state governments and civil liberties groups, said Sensenbrenner's proposal would require extensive scrutiny and national debate. In weeks of House-Senate negotiations over the intelligence legislation, the driver's license provision and others were dropped.

In yesterday's closed GOP meeting, several participants said, Hastert promised to include immigration provisions in a package of "must pass" legislation early next year.

Some members, however, said the promise might prove empty. The White House and Senate, they note, are much less receptive to sharp crackdowns on illegal immigration than are many House members. "There's a real lack of confidence that we'll get a bill to secure our borders," said Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.).

The House vote was a victory for the Sept. 11 commission, whose hard-hitting 567-page report issued in July became a bestseller and spurred Congress to hold hearings and start drafting legislation. Commission Chairman Thomas H. Kean (R), a former New Jersey governor, and Vice Chairman Lee H. Hamilton (D), a former congressman from Indiana, lobbied the public and lawmakers to enact an overhaul this year.

Staff writer Walter Pincus contributed to this report.

Posted by Konrad at 10:15 AM | Permalink

NJ Civil Rights Defense Committee Press Release

For Release Dec. 6, 2004
Contact:
Eric Lerner
973-736-0522
elerner@igc.org

Press conference to be held
Monday, Dec. 6
1:00 PM
Rutger’s Newark Campus
Newark, NJ
Hill Hall (Room 208)
To get to Room 208, please go up the ramp from the second floor of Hill Hall. Hill Hall is at the corner of MLK Jr. Blvd. and Warren St., next to the Student Center.

Representatives of immigrants rights and civil rights groups, including NJ Civil Rights Defense Committee, Casa Freehold, Council on American Islamic Relations-NJ, and others will describe how this victory was achieved and the broader context of the struggle for immigrant rights.

The representatives of the groups and detainee family members will explain what has been won so far and the much greater tasks that still must be accomplished to defend the civil rights of all who live in this country.

The immigrant rights’ movement won a significant victory when the Dept. Of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement arm directed that all jails in the US holding immigrant detainees cease to use dogs around the detainees.

The directive, effective Dec. 11, was a response to a report on National Public Radio documenting the use of the dogs to terrify and physically attack detainees. Officials at Passaic County Jail, one of several facilities that used the dogs, stated that they had already removed the dogs from the jail, an action confirmed by detainees.

The NPR report was the result of an 18-month-long campaign by immigrant rights and civil rights groups to expose the use of dogs to torture immigrant detainees.

The canine abuse was first reported to the press by NJ Civil Rights Defense Committee (NJCRDC) in a press conference July 18, 2003. The conference was held in connection with a hunger strike by Nigel Macado and Hemnauth Mohabir, one of the detainees interviewed in the NPR report last week. Since then, NJCRDC, Families for Freedom and other immigrant rights organizations have been vigorously exposing dog attacks. The groups arranged detainee interviews for the NPR story.

This effort has been part of a general campaign to win the release of all the detainees, who are being held unconstitutionally without any criminal charges “This victory is a step forward,” said NJCRDC member Jeannette Gabriel, “but it puts an end to only one type of detainee abuse. The worst abuse is to hold them at all, as they are not charged with any crimes.” Detainees are held by the Department of Homeland Security as “civil” detentions under laws passed in 1996 and vigorously enforced since September, 2001.

The end of the torture-by-dog is one of the limited but important victories which the growing immigrant rights movement has won in the past year. In Freehold, New Jersey, a coalition of immigrants and citizens united in Casa Freehold and other organizations defeated an attempt by the Township government to shut down a muster zone for immigrant day-laborers. With the support of this coalition, the day–laborers were able to organize a hiring-hall-type of system, ending competition among the laborers and enforcing minimum labor standards on contractors. When police harassment drove the contractors away, NJCRDC and Casa Freehold, joined by other immigrant rights and peace groups, organized a march in Freehold in July which succeeded in countering the harassment.

This new civil rights fight is just beginning. Thousands of detainees remain unconstitutionally incarcerated and immigrant communities are under attack. The detainee featured in NPR’s report for being deliberately subjected to a dog bite, Rosendo Lewis, and another detainee, Abdoulie Secka, have just finished a nine-day hunger strike at Passaic County jail to demand their freedom. They report being subjected to threats by ICE officials to move them to other detention facilities thousands of miles from their families. The dogs are gone, but the violations of human rights remain and only continued exposure and protest will stop them.

Posted by Konrad at 01:00 PM | Permalink

Stateless Palestinian Refugee is now in a US jail, eventually to be deported to the refugee camp!

Denounce the deportation of Ahmad Nafaa, demand his return to Canada!

December 1. 2004-- Tuesday morning, Ahmad Nafaa was deported from Canada to the United States. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) turned Ahmad over to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS), who immediately locked him up in the Clinton County Jail in Northern New York. All of this occurred despite the week-long efforts of the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees and allies, who had been working, since Ahmad was detained on November 23, to prevent his deportation. The night before Ahmad was deported, friends went to visit him in the Laval detention center, Ahmad was very afraid of what is awaiting him in the US and felt that his last hope for living a life in peace and dignity was being crushed in those few hours. Ahmad removed a map of Palestine from his necklace and gave it to a friend for fear of being harassed in the US by immigration officials or in the US jail.

At this moment, Ahmad is being transferred from the Clinton County Jail to the INS detention center near Buffalo, NY. The situation he faces in the US, in addition to the injustice of an arbitrary detention, is difficult and dangerous. It is unlikely that the US will not eventually deport him back to the 56-year-old Palestinian refugee camp of Ein El Helweh in Lebanon, back to a life of statelessness and a life void of all fundamental civil and human rights. It is crucial to recall that occurs against the background of the Canadian government’s continued support of Israel and the illegal occupation of Palestine.

Ahmad will probably be found ineligible to claim asylum as a refugee in the US. US immigration law imposes a one year time limit for the filing of a refugee claim, and the time starts running at the moment the claimant first enters the country. Because Ahmad first entered the US, on his way to Canada, in 2001, that time period has expired. He can apply for a 'Withholding from Removal', but the standards applied to such an application are much higher than for a refugee claim, and it does not confer the same status. The acceptance rates in the US for both types of claims are disturbingly low. Even if Ahmad is released from detention during the time that his claims are processed, he will not be eligible for a work permit for six months.

While Ahmad was being forced into this situation by CIC and the CBSA, the Minister of Immigration Canada, Judy Sgro, ignored a wide variety of efforts to convince her to stop Ahmad’s deportation. Several members of Parliament, including Bill Siksay (NDP), Meille Faille (Bloc), and Alexa McDonough (NDP), personally pressured the Minister to review Ahmad's file and stay his deportation. On Monday morning, Bill Siksay asked the following question in Parliament: “Could the Prime Minister assure us that Canada will live up to its obligations under the UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and, given his personal commitment to the protection of Palestinians, will he ensure that stateless Palestinian refugees are not deported from Canada?” Over the past week, the Minister and several high-level bureaucrats in CIC received thousands of faxes, phone calls and emails explaining Ahmad's situation and demanding a stay of deportation. Despite all of this, the Minister remained intransigent.

The Coalition organized four demonstrations in support of Ahmad, two in front of Immigration Canada’s Montreal office, one at the Laval detention center where Ahmad was being held, and one in front of the Ministry of Citizenship & Immigration in Ottawa. The Coalition’s allies in Toronto organized a demonstration at the riding offices of Minister Sgro.

Several major media outlets, including the CBC, Radio Canada, La Presse, Le Devoir, The Gazette and Global Television, provided extensive coverage of these demonstrations and Ahmad's plight. Journalists were able to interview Ahmad over the weekend while he was in detention in Laval. These interviews appeared on television and in the print media. Still, Sgro, who was surely made aware of the extensive media coverage and public awareness regarding Ahmad, refused to act.

For a sampling of the media coverage, visit the following:
http://radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/Index/nouvelles/200411/28/002-nafaa-lav al.shtml
http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=e485c8 88-9dd2-492c-a26b-f66479a64fb5
http://radio-canada.ca/regions/Montreal/nouvelles/200411/29/009-DEPORTAT IONPALESTINIEN.shtml
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/article/article_complet.php?path=/a ctualites/article/1,63,0,112004,852430.php
http://radio-canada.ca/regions/Montreal/nouvelles/200411/24/012-MANIFDEP ORTATIONPALESTINEN.shtml

The Federal Court also failed to prevent this injustice. On Monday afternoon, Judge Beaudry rejected an application for a stay of deportation, which had been filed by Ahmad’s lawyer, Annick Legault. The judge, incredibly, found that Ahmad would not face ‘irreparable harm’ if deported to the US. One wonders what reparations Judge Beaudry would therefore find adequate for the indignity and loss of liberty that Ahmad has already suffered during just his first 24 hours in the US. Judge Beaudry also denied the application on the grounds that Ahamd did not have ‘clean hands’ because he had been living underground for over a year before being detained (he way, as they say, ‘illegal’). In essence, the judge refused the application because Ahmad had been forced underground in order to avoid deportation to the poverty and persecution that are daily life in the refugee camps of Lebanon. This despite the fact that the initial refusal of Ahmad’s refugee claim was clearly unjust. A clear indication of that is that fact that his own brother, who has exactly the same case, was granted refugee status in Canada and is allowed to stay simply because a different Immigration & Refugee Board member heard his case.

The Coalition is now organizing to arrange to pay a $10,000 (USD) bond so that Ahmad may be released from detention while he awaits his virtually guaranteed deportation back to Lebanon.

PLEASE CALL, FAX and EMAIL THE MINISTER OF IMMIGRATION We ask you to again write, call or email the Removal Officer in this case and the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, expressing your outrage and disgust at the failure of the government to prevent this gross injustice.

WHEN YOU CALL, DEMAND FROM CITIZENSHIP & IMMIGRATION: 1) To accept Ahmad Nafaa’s humanitarian and compassionate grounds application, which was filed over 6 months ago, so that he may return to Canada.
2) To stop the deportation and regularize the status of the Stateless Palestinian refugees who are facing deportation from Canada.

For more information, contact the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees:
Email: refugees@riseup.net
Phone: 514.591.3171
http://refugees.resist.ca
----------------------

Removal Officer
Ludmilla St-Saveur
Agent d'execution de la loi-CBSA
1010 rue St-Antoine
Phone: 496-2683
Fax: 496-1882

Judy Sgro
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada
CIC National Headquarters 365 Laurier, Jean Edmonds South Tower, 21st Floor Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1L1 Fax: (613) 947-8319 Phone: (613) 954-1064 Minister@cic.gc.ca Sgro.J@parl.gc.ca

RE : STATELESS PALESTINIAN REFUGEE AHMAD NAFAA (4277-4326)

Honourable Judy Sgro,

December 1 2004 - AHMAD NAFAA has been deported from Canada to the United States, and after being locked in the Clinton County Jail, he is being transferred to an INS detention center. We, therefore, respectfully request that, as Citizenship and Immigration Minister, immediately accept his application for permanent residence on compassionate and humanitarian grounds so that he may return to Canada. The Canadian government has already failed Mr. Nafaa once, by failing to stop his unjust deportation, and the only way to remedy that wrong is to allow Mr. Nafaa to return to Canada as soon as possible.

Mr. Nafaa was born a stateless Palestinian in Ein El-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon. Fear, poverty and persecution are daily facts of life in the Ein El-Hilweh camp, and the present and future are grim for resident Palestinians. They are banned from an ever-expanding number of trades and professions. Unemployment among them, as a result, is extremely high. Poverty rates are also astronomical. The restrictions on new construction within the camp means its residents are forced to live in dilapidated, hopelessly abject housing. All these factors lead to a situation so bleak for Palestinians that suicide in the camp is an everyday tragedy.

After 24 years in the camp and suffering its endemic racism, discrimination, fear, violence and poverty, Mr. Nafaa fled Lebanon and claimed refugee status in Canada. His claim was denied on February 20, 2002. On the other hand, his brother Mohammad¹s refugee claim, heard by a different member of the refugee board, was accepted.

Since arriving in Canada, Mr. Nafaa has become fully integrated in Canadian and Quebec society. He has been reunited with his brother, and they have renewed their close family ties. Mr. Nafaa currently works full-time in a restaurant and is a self-sufficient and contributing member of his community. He dreams of returning to school and finishing the nursing degree he began in Lebanon. After suffering for so many years as a refugee, his greatest desire is to alleviate the suffering of others. In every sense, Mr. Nafaa has found a home in Canada.

Ahmad Nafaa now faces deportation from the U.S. to the refugee camps of Lebanon, where the conditions faced by Palestinians are dangerous, degrading and, beyond dispute, in clear violation of international law. This situation, over half-a-century old, is directly related to the statelessness of Palestinians. Because of their unique situation, Palestinians have been denied not only rights accorded ordinary citizens but also genuine access to the international system for the protection of refugees. The fact that Mr. Nafaa’s immediate deportation was to the United States does not materially affect his plight. Eventual deportation to his country of origin is virtually automatic.

In signing the United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness in 1978, the government of Canada championed the cause of stateless refugees. If Canada allows Mr. Nafaa to return to Lebanon, it would be abdicating that noble responsibility. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration must therefore act now to grant Mr. Nafaa, and the other stateless Palestinian refugees facing deportation from Canada, permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, pursuant to s. 25(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

We thank you for your attention and efforts in this urgent matter.

Sincerely,

(YOUR NAME, ADDRESS)

CC: -Office of the Prime Minister of Canada: pm@pm.gc.ca, Fax: 613-941-6900 -Michel Dorais, Deputy Minister CIC: Fax: (613) 954-3509 or (613) 954-5448
-René D’Aoust: Director Investigation & Removal: Phone: (514) 496-1238, Fax: (514) 496-1882
-Monique Leclair, Director General: CIC QC Regional Office: Fax: (514) 496-3976
-Andrew Telegdi, P.C. (Chair of Standing Committee on Citizenship & Immigration): telega@parl.gc.ca
- Bill Siksay, MP (NDP - Immigration): siksay.b@parl.gc.ca
- Meili Faille, MP (Bloc Québécois - Immigration): Faille.M@parl.gc.ca

Posted by Konrad at 04:23 PM | Permalink

Call on the German Federal Prosecutor to Investigate Rumsfeld and Other U.S. Officials for War Crimes at Abu Ghraib

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and four Iraqis who were tortured in U.S. custody have filed a complaint with the German Federal Prosecutor's Office against high ranking United States civilian and military commanders over the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison and elsewhere in Iraq.

We are asking the German prosecutor to launch an investigation: since the U.S. government is unwilling to open an independent investigation into the responsibility of these officials for war crimes, and since the U.S. has refused to join the International Criminal Court, CCR and the Iraqi victims have brought this complaint in Germany as a court of last resort. Several of the defendants are stationed in Germany.

Defendants include Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, former CIA Director George Tenet, Lt. General Ricardo S. Sanchez, Major-General Walter Wojdakowski, Brig.-General Janis Karpinski, Lt.-Colonel Jerry L. Phillabaum, Colonel Thomas M. Pappas, Lt.-Colonel Stephen L. Jordan, Major-General Geoffrey Miller, and Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone.

German law allows German courts to prosecute for killing, torture, cruel and inhumane treatment, forcible transfers and sexual coercion such as occurred at Abu Ghraib. The world has seen the photographs and read the leaked "torture memos" - we are doing what is necessary when other systems of justice have failed and seeking to hold officials up the chain of command responsible for the shameful abuses that occurred.

Please join our effort! The German Prosecutor has discretion to decide whether to initiate an investigation. It is critical that he hear from you so he knows that people around the world support this effort.

Send a letter here.

(If the above link doesn't work, paste this address into your browser:
http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/whatsnew/action/actionAlert2.asp
For more information on the suit, go to www.ccr-ny.org .)

And please forward this message widely!

Sincerely,

Michael Ratner
President
Center for Constitutional Rights

Posted by Konrad at 11:08 AM | Permalink

From: Sivaprasad, Shoba [immigrationforum.org]
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 11:37 AM
Subject: FW: Need your help on 9/11 recs bill
Importance: High

We really need your help making calls to these offices to keep the bad immigration provisions out of the 9/11 bill. We are getting reports from Democratic offices that calls are running 5 to 1 in favor of adding the Sensenbrenner immigration provisions to the intelligence reform conference report. FAIR reports a 30 to 1 margin of calls in to Sensenbrenner's office, but they are prone to exaggeration. Still, it's clear that this week is our last big push for the year as negotiations either will or will not advance right now. PLEASE circulate this action alert to your networks and make calls yourself. The call-in week starts today with the White House and Speaker Hastert, and continues through Friday with your own members. Thank you!

TAKE PART IN THE NATIONWIDE CALL-IN WEEK

NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 3

Congress is coming back on Dec. 6th to possibly vote on an intelligence reform bill. We need to make sure that the final bill does not include the bad immigration provisions we have been fighting against. Scroll to the bottom for a short update on the bill.

TAKE ACTION TODAY!

In order to stop the anti-immigrant provisions from becoming law, your voice is needed! Please make two to three calls a day for the next four days:

* Tuesday, Nov. 30: Call the White House at (202) 456-1111 and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) at (202) 225-2976.

* Wednesday, Dec. 1: Call Rep. Hoekstra (R-MI) at (202) 225-4401 and Rep. Harman (D-CA) at (202) 225-8220. Call the White House if you haven't yet done so at (202) 456-1111.

* Thursday, Dec. 2: Call Sen. Collins (R-ME) at (202) 224-2523 and Sen. Lieberman (D-CT) at (202) 224-4041. Call the White House if you haven't yet done so at (202) 456-1111.

* Friday, Dec. 3: Call your own senators and representative. You can find your representative's information at: http://www.house.gov and two senators' information at: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm . Call the White House if you haven't yet done so at (202) 456-1111.

WHAT IS THE MESSAGE?

When you call, tell them:

I want you to keep the anti-immigrant provisions pushed by Rep. Sensenbrenner out of the intelligence reform bill.

The Senate-led compromise already contains border security measures; the additional provisions pushed by Rep. Sensenbrenner are extreme and were not part of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations.

I want you to enact the real recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, not the agenda of House immigration restrictionists.

Finally, tell them that we need comprehensive immigration reform-not non-solutions that will only drive people further underground and cause panic in immigrant communities.

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE 9/11 BILL?

The weekend before Thanksgiving, Senate members of the conference committee devised a compromise that excluded the worst of the anti-immigrant House provisions but kept several "border security" measures, such as an increase in the number of border patrol agents and a mandate for federal agencies to devise minimum standards for the issuance of driver's licenses (in contrast to the more strident House ID language that would bar undocumented immigrants from obtaining state-issued IDs or using consular IDs).

This was not enough for Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), who insisted on the inclusion of the extraneous immigration provisions. He was joined by Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA) who objected to shifting intelligence authority and resources from the Pentagon to other agencies. Due to their objections, the compromise was pulled.

Since then, the White House has said it will work to get a bill passed this year. The conference committee leadership also wants a bill this year. Pressure is mounting to finalize the deal, but Representative Sensenbrenner is not backing down.

Congress will come back to Washington, DC for a short session on December 6th to vote on an intelligence reform bill if the conference committee can come to an agreement. We need to make sure that the White House, conference committee leadership, the majority of conferees, and your own senators and representatives (who will have to vote on the compromise measure) do not give in to Representative Sensenbrenner's demands. The President is key in this debate; according to media reports he supports the Senate compromise, but he must hear from us in order to stay strong and bring members of his own party into line.

TO SEND AN EMAIL OR FAX:

If you cannot call Congress and the White House this week, you can also communicate with them via email or fax. To do so go to:

Human Rights First

American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)
for Congress
for White House

National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (NAPALC)

YOUR VOICE IS IMPORTANT * TAKE ACTION TODAY

Posted by Konrad at 11:48 AM | Permalink